Yellow Streak by Simmer | EP Review

Simmer are a four piece band from Cheshire, and this is their latest EP Yellow Streak. Funnily enough that was my nickname at school growing up; I got scared very easily back then. These guys are a kind of mashup of punk and ambient creating a sound that comes at you at full pelt but always has a blur to it, giving you an immediate reaction and then a very quick follow up all at once. I’m very tired, so I don’t know if that made sense.

Yellow Streak is an EP that boasts four tracks and all of them really come in strongly with huge waves of distorted guitar chords, drum fills and a whole lotta attitude. It sounds awesome for the most part, and instead of it just being all about the heaviness Simmer actually like to throw in some melodies too for the sake of layering, bringing together a nicely crafted sound. There’s a lot of Dinosaur Jr. about their sound actually, and that’s awesome.

Simmer do a great job at varying up Yellow Streak by performing songs that are quick bursts of energy and slower cuts, helping us listeners get a right good old feel of them. Douse in particular is a track where the band’s guitar playing is truly showcased as it’s like the strums are paired up nicely with the hectic drum fills, creating a nice rugged texture to the sound. Head Trip and Laying Odds startle me a little with their sudden rush of HIWE’REHEREPLAYINGGUITAR intros, with the latter breaking down into another section that could have so easily appeared on the Bug era of Dinosaur Jr’s output. Finally the closing track Yellow Streak takes on a slower approach which allows the ambient side to come out and it is indeed a pleasant track, which soon grabs hold of the punk elements and ends up becoming a very fitting end to what has been a very solid EP.

Yellow Streak is a great way to get yourself hyped up for anything like going to the gym or punching or shark or something.All four songs are great and offer a lot of grittiness which is good every now and then, and yeah, Simmer are awesome. For more music reviews, free downloads and UGH GRAH RRRRG check out Exploding Head Syndrome on Facebook and Twitter.